Celebrate Bat Week with NCC!

Hang out with us as we celebrate Bat Week from Oct 24-31! Bats are a critical part of our ecosystems, so we’ll be shining the spotlight on them and the role they play in Labrador! We invite you to participate in some family-friendly activities!

Each day we’ll post some interesting facts about bats PLUS daily activities for you to try, for a chance to win prizes! Check out our schedule below or visit our Facebook Page to see what’s happening in our daily stories!

  • Oct 24 – Word Search – Spot the words!
  • Oct 25 – Colouring Sheet – Get creative!
  • Oct 26 – Bat Body Part – Inuttitut – Learn about bats AND expand your Inuttitut vocabulary!
  • Oct 27 – Bat Craft – Download the instructions and bring these bats to life!
  • Oct 28 – Bat Scavenger Hunt – Try to find this bat on NCC’s website – send us a screenshot!
  • Oct 29 – Bat Drawing – Send a bat-themed picture you drew to Stewardshiptech@nunatukavut.ca.
  • Oct 30 – Bat Mail – Send your thoughts, encounters, or experiences with bats to Stewardshiptech@nunatukavut.ca.
  • Oct 31 – Submit photos of you doing our bat-themed activities – Each submission is an entry for prizes! Send photos to Stewardshiptech@nunatukavut.ca.

NOTE: If you are experiencing trouble printing the activity sheets, please download (save them) on your device or computer before printing.

Did you know?

  • There are 3 Bat Species Native to Labrador: Little Brown Bat, Northern Long-eared Bat, and the Hoary Bat.
  • Many bats will hibernate over winter in large groups, somewhere where they can get below the frost line, often in caves. These winter locations are called hibernaculums. In the spring, they leave the hibernaculums and migrate to their summer habitat. During the summer months, when the females get ready to have their babies/pups, they will gather once more to create a maternity roost. This way, all the pups, once born, can stay together to keep warm, while the mother bat goes out feeding, before returning at the end of the night to nurse her young. 
  • Bats play a major role in our ecosystem. Our bats here in Labrador are insectivores and help to control insect populations such as mosquitoes and moths!  
  • Fun Fact: Bats can eat half their weight in insects per night.

Little Brown Bat, Myotis Lucifugus

  • Is the most common species of bat found here in Labrador.
  • Often found roosting under our bridges and in our old, abandoned buildings
  • They can catch up to ~600 mosquitos/flies in an hour.
  • They live to be about 8 years old.
  • Weigh about 8 grams.
  • Can travel up to 1000km between summer habitat and winter hibernaculum.
  • Status: Endangered

Northern Long-Eared Bat, Myotis septentrionalis 

  • Second most common species of bat in Labrador
  • Can distinguish from the Little Brown Bat by its larger size and of course larger ears.
  • They will also migrate back and form from a hibernaculum to their summer foraging habitat.
  • Oldest know individual lived up to 30 years old!
  • Weigh 6-9 grams.
  • These bats like to sleep about 20 hours a day. 
  • Status: Endangered 

Hoary Bat, Lasiurus cinereus

  • Easily identifiable by their silver lined fur and tan coloured face.
  • Hoary Bats will roost/sleep among leafy trees, upside down, to camouflage as a dried leaf. 
  • Hoary Bats are LONG distance migrants and will not hibernate. Instead, they fly back and forth from Canada in the summer, down to the United States and Mexico in the winter.
  • They are known to be territorial in their foraging habitat towards other bats (not humans) and will return to the same areas to feed annually. 
  • Live to age 6 or 7 years old. 
  • Weigh about 26 grams.
  • Status: Least Concern

Threats to Bats 

White Nose Syndrome

  • White Nose Syndrome is a fungus that has been introduced to North American in the last 10 years.
  • This fungus grows on the wings and faces of bats while they hibernated during the winter. It is very irritating to the bats and causes them to wake up from hibernation and in doing so, burn through their fat reserves before spring arrives and they perish. 
  • White Nose Syndrome has wiped out millions of bats across North America.

Habitat Loss

  • Bats in Canada live mainly in forested areas, and they hunt close to water bodies (ponds, rivers, and lakes). Habitat changes caused by urban development, deforestation and agriculture affect bats as it decreases suitable areas for roosting sites, as well as hunting area. 

Early Removal of Bats from Buildings

  • During breeding season, maternity roosts can sometimes be formed in chimneys, attics, or other places in your shed/home. 
  • Removing bats from any building between June – July will result in the pups being left behind, resulting in death.
  • It is illegal to remove bats from a roost between June – July without a permit. 
  • Bats will leave on their own in September as they migrate to their winter habitat or hibernaculum. Simply seal off all entries so that bats cannot return in following years. 

Pesticides

  • The spraying of pesticides to control pest insects, results in less food available for bats. Ingesting contaminated insects can also cause extreme illness or even bat mortality. 

What you can do:

  • Report all bat sightings to sighting@nunatukavut.ca
  • Install bat boxes to increase roosting/ shelter sites.
  • Wait until September before you evict any bats.
  • Avoid the use of harmful pesticides.